Tag Archive for 'Solar System'

This image of Neptune was obtained during the testing of the Narrow-Field adaptive optics mode of the MUSE/GALACSI instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Image credit: ESO / P. Weilbacher, AIP.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope Captures Sharp Images of Neptune

Jul 19, 2018 by News Staff

The Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has achieved the first light with a new adaptive optics mode...

Various groupings of Jupiter’s moons with the newly-discovered ones shown in bold; Valetudo has a prograde orbit that crosses the retrograde orbits. Image credit: Roberto Molar-Candanosa / Carnegie Institution for Science.

Astronomers Discover Twelve New Jovian Moons

Jul 18, 2018 by News Staff

A team of astronomers led by Dr. Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science has discovered twelve new moons orbiting Jupiter: eleven ‘normal’...

This image from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft shows a volcanic explosion on Io. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizon.

Juno Spots New Active Volcano on Jupiter Moon’s Io

Jul 16, 2018 by News Staff

Infrared data collected by NASA’s Juno spacecraft point to a new heat source in the southern hemisphere of Io — Jupiter’s third-largest moon...

A bi-static radar image of the binary asteroid 2017 YE5 from the Arecibo Observatory and the Green Bank Observatory on June 25, 2018. Image credit: Arecibo / GBO / NSF / NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Spot Rare Binary Asteroid: 2017 YE5

Jul 13, 2018 by News Staff

New observations by NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar in California, Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia...

Perspective view of Pluto’s highest mountains, Tenzing Montes, along the western margins of Sputnik Planitia. Image credit: Paul Schenk, Lunar and Planetary Institute.

Global Mosaic and Topographic Maps of Pluto and Charon Released

Jul 11, 2018 by News Staff

NASA’s New Horizons team has released the first official global mosaic and topographic maps of the dwarf planet Pluto and its largest moon, Charon. Perspective...

Sulaiman et al found a powerful interaction of plasma waves moving from Saturn to its rings and Enceladus. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Sounds of Saturn: Evidence of Communication between Saturn, Its Rings and Enceladus via Plasma Waves

Jul 10, 2018 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft’s high-inclination Grand Finale orbits offered an unprecedented new view of Saturn and its environment. New research from...

This illustration depicts JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft at the asteroid Ryugu. Image credit: German Aerospace Center / CC-BY 3.0.

JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 Spacecraft Arrives at Asteroid Ryugu

Jul 9, 2018 by News Staff

After a journey of 42 months and 2 billion miles (3.2 billion km), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft finally reached its intended...

Juno Images Show Unusual ‘Footprint’ of Io and Ganymede on Jupiter’s Aurorae

Jul 6, 2018 by News Staff

High-resolution infrared images from the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) on NASA’s Juno spacecraft show that, rather than casting one ‘shadow’...

This artist’s concept shows a young planetary system. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Inner Main-Belt Asteroids Are Remnants of Few Ancient Minor Planets, Study Shows

Jul 4, 2018 by News Staff

According to new research, at least 85% of 200,000 asteroids in the inner asteroid belt — the main source of Earth’s meteorites — originate...

Massive Protoplanet Hit Young Uranus, Caused It To Tilt, Study Says

Jul 3, 2018 by News Staff

According to a Durham University-led study, young Uranus was hit by a protoplanet about twice the size of Earth that caused the ice giant to tilt and could...

This artist’s painting of the south polar region of Enceladus shows massive jets of water ice being blasted into space. Image credit: Karl Kofoed / NASA.

Cassini Scientists Find Complex Organic Molecules in Geyser-Like Plumes of Enceladus

Jun 28, 2018 by News Staff

Using data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, a research team led by University of Heidelberg scientists Frank Postberg and Nozair Khawaja found that complex,...

This artist’s impression shows ‘Oumuamua, the first interstellar object discovered in our Solar System. Recent observations show that the object is moving faster than predicted while leaving the Solar System. Astronomers assume that venting material from its surface due to solar heating is responsible for this behavior. This outgassing can be seen in this artist’s impression as a subtle cloud being ejected from the side of the object facing the Sun. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / ESO / M. Kornmesser.

Oumuamua Turns Out to Be Interstellar Comet After All

Jun 28, 2018 by News Staff

1I/2017 U1 ‘Oumuamua — the first known object of extrasolar origin discovered within the Solar System — has been the subject of intense scrutiny...

Organic deposits in Ernutet crater on Ceres. Image credit: Kaplan et al / NASA.

Organic Matter on Dwarf Planet Ceres More Abundant than Thought

Jun 14, 2018 by News Staff

A new analysis of data collected by NASA’s Dawn orbiter suggests that organic molecules may exist in surprisingly high concentrations on the surface...

Cometary-type interplanetary dust particle collected by NASA aircraft. Image credit: Hope Ishii, University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Cometary-Type Interplanetary Particles Contain Presolar Dust, Researchers Find

Jun 13, 2018 by News Staff

Samples of interplanetary particles — collected from the upper atmosphere of Earth and believed to originate from comets — contain presolar...

Professors Meyers and Malinverno reconstructed the deep history of Earth’s relationship to the Moon. Image credit: Jonny Lindner.

Moon is Making Days on Earth Longer: Study

Jun 12, 2018 by News Staff

Around 1.4 billion years ago, a day on Earth lasted approximately 18.7 hours, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy...

An artist’s concept of the minor planet Sedna; the Sun appears as an extremely bright star instead of a large, warm disc observed from Earth; in the distance is a hypothetical small moon, which scientists believe may be orbiting this distant body. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Collective Gravity, Not Planet Nine, May Explain Orbits of Sedna and Other Detached Trans-Neptunian Objects

Jun 11, 2018 by News Staff

A team of planetary researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder has offered up a new theory for the existence of strange trans-Neptunian objects...

Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. The distance is 1,550 miles (2,500 km) from the surface of the planet. The mosaic is composed of 102 Viking Orbiter images of Mars. The center of the scene shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system, over 1,240 miles (2,000 km) long and up to 5 miles (8 km) deep, extending form Noctis Labyrinthus, the arcuate system of graben to the west, to the chaotic terrain to the east. Many huge ancient river channels begin from the chaotic terrain from north-central canyons and run north. The three Tharsis volcanoes (dark red spots), each about 15.5 miles (25 km) high, are visible to the west. South of Valles Marineris is very ancient terrain covered by many impact craters. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Curiosity Finds Organic Molecules in Ancient Rocks, Seasonal Methane Releases on Mars

Jun 8, 2018 by News Staff

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has detected organic molecules in 3-billion-year-old sedimentary rocks at the base of the Murray formation at Pahrump Hills,...

This artist’s concept of lightning distribution in Jupiter’s northern hemisphere incorporates a JunoCam image with artistic embellishments. Data from NASA’s Juno mission indicates that most of the lightning activity on Jupiter is near its poles. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / JunoCam.

Juno Scientists Solve Mysteries of Jupiter’s Lightning

Jun 7, 2018 by News Staff

Ever since NASA’s Voyager 1 flew past Jupiter in 1979, planetary researchers have wondered about the origin of Jovian lightning. That encounter confirmed...

This artist’s concept shows NASA’s Dawn spacecraft arriving at Ceres. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft on the Way to Its Lowest-Ever Orbit around Ceres

Jun 4, 2018 by News Staff

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is maneuvering to its lowest-ever orbit for a close-up examination of the dwarf planet Ceres. This artist’s concept shows NASA’s...

This Pluto mosaic was made from New Horizons LORRI images taken on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 49,700 miles (80,000 km). This view is projected from a point 1,118 miles (1,800 km) above Pluto’s equator, looking northeast over the dark, cratered Cthulhu Regio toward the bright, smooth expanse of icy plains called Sputnik Planum. Pluto’s North Pole is off the image to the left. This mosaic was produced with panchromatic images from the New Horizons LORRI camera, with color overlaid from the Ralph color mapper onboard New Horizons. Image credit: S.A. Stern et al.

Researchers Find Methane Ice Dunes on Pluto

Jun 1, 2018 by News Staff

Wind-blown dunes are known on Earth, Mars, Venus, Saturn’s moon Titan, and Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko — and, now on Pluto, according to a...

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